Haiti’s Justice Ministry warns of threats against prime minister and his Cabinet

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti's Justice Ministry called Tuesday for a boost in security for Prime Minister Garry Conille and other Cabinet officials in response to unspecified threats that they could be targeted by malicious parties.

The ministry did not provide details other than to say it had “consistent and persistent” information that the top officials might be targeted by unnamed actors intent on sowing “trouble and panic in the country.” The ministry urged police and judicial authorities to take “appropriate measures” to guarantee the officials' safety.

Neither judicial authorities nor the office of the prime minister returned messages for comment.

The statement from the Justice Ministry comes as gang violence ramps up in certain neighbourhoods of Haiti's capital that aren't already under gang control, just months after a UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police began. More than 4,000 people have been left homeless in the recent attacks targeting communities in Port-au-Prince including Solino and Tabarre 27.

The escalation in violence began nearly a week ago and is blamed on a gang coalition called “Viv Ansanm,” which was responsible for large-scale attacks that began in February targeting critical government infrastructure.

Those attacks led to the eventual resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

“Haiti's politics and violence are deeply interconnected,” said Diego Da Rin, a Haiti analyst with the International Crisis Group, who added that the allegations of threats against the current Haitian leaders were “serious and demand swift action.”

“Times of escalating governance crises have often coincided with a rise in armed group activity,” Da Rin said.

The Justice Ministry's warning has raised concerns especially given that former President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his private residence in July 2021, unleashing a period a political turmoil in the country.

In an interview Monday with Magik9 radio station, Justice Minister Carlos Hercule blamed unspecified “forces of darkness” that operated in Haiti 20 years ago for fuelling the current gang violence.

“We have information,” he said, without providing details. “At every moment of calm, they have formed a coalition with ex-convicts, delinquents who enjoy carrying illegal firearms,” Hercule said.

The U.S. government and others have warned that the UN-backed mission trying to quell gang violence is lacking funds and personnel, with the US proposing it become a UN peacekeeping mission, a call backed by the former leader of Haiti's transitional presidential council.

On Monday, the top US diplomat for Latin America and the Caribbean condemned the ongoing gang violence.

“Individuals who aim to destabilise Haiti for personal gain should be more concerned for Haiti and its people,” Brian A. Nichols, the US Department of State's assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs, wrote on X.

He also warned it was not the time for political infighting, a reference to recent spats between Conille and some of the nine members who make up the transitional presidential council.

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